Craft cider maker Bantam Cider is set to open the first taproom by cider makers in Massachusetts next week when they open up their Somerville facility to the masses.

"There's not another all-cider tap place in greater Boston, or all of the state of Massachusetts," said Bantam co-founder Dana Masterpolo.

Masterpolo and Michelle da Silva founded Bantam in 2012, originally making the company’s Wunderkind cider at Westport Wineries before moving its operation to western Massachusetts.

They quietly moved into their space at 230 Somerville Ave. in September, with little fanfare.

"We're in a quasi-residential area and we were just trying to set up and make sure we could keep our production on line," said Masterpolo. "The whole reason we wanted to do this is first [is that] we wanted a home. We were traveling road show.

"We also wanted to open up a space where people can try the things we do, things that we don't necessarily launch that are experimental," she said.

The taproom will open up for business on March 13. The cidery will feature eight ciders on tap - the Wunderkind, and Rojo, a cider made with ale yeast and finished with cherry and black peppercorns - as well as a rotating line of other Bantam ciders.

They will include the return of the La Grande, a Bourbon barrel-aged cider, and next week's debut of Smoke Saison Cider. The Smoke Saison Cider is made with Belgian saison yeast and smoked apples, Masterpolo said. It will be available in different locations on draft, but bottles are only available at the cidery.

"When you're in our tasting room, it's open to the production room," she said. "You really feel like you're in the middle of the production space."

Bantam's new cidery is located in a former bakery and is in a 5,000-square-foot building. The tasting room will feature eight taps, two giant tables and items to buy.

Customers can come in and order a flight, which features four smaller portions of different ciders, or they can buy full-size pints.

Masterpolo said craft ciders are really growing in popularity. Other cideries have popped up throughout New England, and Boston Beer Company is now producing the Angry Orchard line of ciders.

"It helps us because [Angry Orchard] is plowing the way for us, introducing people to cider," said Masterpolo. "We smaller companies offer something perhaps more artisanal, which is a secondary layer."

Cider also attracts many people and is also a great option for those with dietary restrictions because cider is gluten free.

"I think what is great is the people who are going to come to this space are beer people, they're wine people, and they are people who are interested in things that artisanal. Cider is something different, frankly."

Page 2 of 2 - Initial hours for the Bantam Cider taproom will be 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Masterpolo said.

"It's going to be special," she said.

Email Norman Miller at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter at @realbeernut. Also check out "Norman Miller, The Beer Nut" on Facebook.